Columbia LANCASTER, Congress, WA (1803-1893)

LANCASTER, Columbia, a Delegate from the Territory of Washington; born in New Milford, Litchfield County, Conn., August 26, 1803; moved with his family to Canfield, Ohio, in 1817; attended the common schools; moved to Detroit, Mich., in 1824; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1830 and commenced practice in Centerville, Mich.; appointed prosecuting attorney of Michigan Territory by Governor Cass; member of the Territorial legislature in 1837; settled in the Willamette Valley, Oreg., in 1847; associate justice of the supreme court under the provisional government; took up his residence near the mouth of the Lewis River, Oreg. (now State of Washington); unsuccessful candidate for Delegate to the Thirty-first Congress from Oregon before the separation of the Territories of Washington and Oregon; member of the Territorial council of Oregon 1850-1852; when the Territory of Washington was admitted to representation was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress and served from April 12, 1854, until March 3, 1855; unsuccessful candidate for renomination; regent of the University of Washington at Seattle in 1862; connected with the Puget Sound & Columbia River Railroad project in 1862; died in Vancouver, Wash., September 15, 1893; interment in the City Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present